OHC Blog

It is easy to forget that oral history practices developed differently in different countries. The U.S. model - or, more precisely, the model developed by Allan Nevins, Louis Starr, and Elizabeth Mason at Columbia University in the 1950s and 1960s - was followed by the major oral history programmes in the United States and in some other countries, but practices in Great Britain...

Scott Price has been the lead researcher on the Oral History project on the United Food and commercial workers local 832 since 2012. The project has gathered a range of sources on UFCW local 832 and the various industries they represent. Scott Price will post a monthly blog about information gathered through the project that demonstrate UFCW local's rich history.

Oral History Interviews and Research on the Indigenous History of Tuberculosis Treatment in Manitoba, 1930-1970

By Dr. Mary Jane McCallum

What do Indigenous people recall of medical treatment for tuberculosis (TB) in Manitoba? We are interviewing First Nations, Métis and Inuit people who were patients and employees of TB hospitals in Manitoba between...

Oral historians in the English-speaking world have been rewarded with a number of excellent compendiums over the past few decades, including an anthology, a reader, and two handbooks. Yet, to the international readership of these introductory essay collections, it must seem that Canadians have never heard of oral history. Alternatively, they may get the impression that Canada is so...

Oral History and the Common Good

In my last blog post, I wrote about the Oral History Centre’s motto of “democratizing history.” Today, I continue this idea by asking how the notion of the Common Good can help us understand oral history’s democratizing potential.

Democratizing History: The Role of Oral History

“Democratizing history” is the motto of the University of Winnipeg Oral History Centre. What do we mean?

History and democracy are two big ideas that have shaped the modern world. We often see them as static institutions or abstract concepts, but we can also see them as processes and practices. We engage in...